Don't worry about dissing my brother - we did that for years. We all believe(d) that he's nuts. Anyway, from what he told me, the hardest job is keeping the bike under control coming off the line. His rear tire looked at least a foot wide but it had to handle several hundred horsepower.

Steve didn't ride the unlimited bikes. He believe THEY were crazy! He said he'd see them wrestling their bikes to keep them under control, sometimes with their shoulder practically touching the ground, and they never let off the throttle. To drag race in the unlimited class (cars or motorcycles), you have to get another unlimited class rider to sign your ticket. They don't let just anyone ride next to themselves under the conditions. Those guys can top 200 MPH in a quarter mile. I wonder how many Gs of acceleration that works out to.

Steve retired not too long after a top rider was killed. He said this guy was the fastest around and always had been. I think the guy was the first to break 200 MPH on a bike. When asked about it, he said that it was hard to hold on due to the wind resistance. He was killed when he was blown off his bike at top speed. Some people believe a sleeve on his racing leathers came unzipped and caught the wind, ripping his hand from the handlebars. They base this on some videotape of the accident but I doubt if anyone knows for sure.